Zig Novak
Zigmund "Zig" Novak is a sophomore (Grade 10) at Degrassi Community School. He's handsome, charming, and obsessed with skateboarding. His home life isn't much fun, so he makes the most of his time at Degrassi—flirting with the girls and making his guy friends laugh. Zig finds himself in detention on a regular basis, but he can usually talk his way out of trouble. For Zig, trouble follows him. Whether it's talking to girls or even doing nothing, he always finds himself in a tight situation. Zig even feels that he hurts the ones he cares about the most. He is best friends with Damon. He is good friends with Maya Matlin, who he has a crush on, and band mates Mo Mashkour, Adam Torres, and Imogen Moreno. He is also friends with Tristan Milligan. He was enemies with Campbell Saunders, and blames himself for his death. He is the Power Squad mascot and currently a member in the band, WhisperHug. Zig is portrayed by Ricardo Hoyos. Character History Season 11 In Underneath It All, Zig begins at Degrassi Community School along with his fellow Junior High classmates, Tori and Tristan. On his first day, he encounters a new, artsy girl named Maya, who he invites to the Dot after school. Zig tells Maya that he broke up with Tori because he didn't want to start high school with a girlfriend. Zig takes Tori back because he realizes that wasn't really a good reason, but remains friends with Maya. In Can't Tell Me Nothing (1), Zig is seen waiting for Tori to come to the skatepark with him. She agrees and leaves with him, upsetting Tristan. Later, Zig is seen in The Dot after receiving an invitation to meet someone there. He assumes the invitation is from Tori, but she shows up and hugs him after receiving the same invitation thinking she was invited there by him. Tristan explains he gave them the invitations, and tells them he wants to be friends with both of them, and suggests they do a music act for the Coffee House. Zig agrees but looks unsure. In Can't Tell Me Nothing (2), Zig doesn’t see a spot for him in Tristan and Tori's two man cabaret show Half a Heart. Zig tries to work with Tristan and suggests a rap. Unfortunately, Tristan sees this as an insult to his creative masterpiece. Zig tells Tristan that his song is campy and Tori admits that she thinks they should leave Half A Heart as a good memory from their summer camp performance.Tristan decides to forge ahead with Half a Heart. After Tristan gets booed onstage, Tori runs on stage to complete the half of Tristan’s heart that’s missing. Zig also joins them for his rap part. In Need You Now (1), Zig wants Tori to film him skateboarding for a contest. When Tori has to leave he tells her the deadline is tonight and he wants it to be good, and suggest Maya would help him to get Tori to stay. In Need You Now (2), Zig goes to the gym looking for Tori, and see's her as the mascot. Zig tells her he can't come support her due to skateboarding. Zig is then asked by Tori to come to the game, he once again rather go with the guy skateboarding than the football game and support Tori. Saying that's not really his thing, Tori leaves the room, and Zig is left compelled. Zig shows up at the game as the new mascot, and now Tori can be on the team. In Smash Into You (1), Zig is seen at the skatepark skateboarding. In Smash Into You (2), Zig is seen on the double date with Tori, Tristan and Adam. He is also seen talking to Adam when Tori runs off to comfort Tristan. Season 12 In Come As You Are (1), he joined Tori, Maya and Tristan at the mall. When Tori mentioned getting breast reduction surgery, Zig expressed concern, but Tori quickly reassured him that her parents said no. As the topic shifted to lingerie and the possibility of Maya getting breast implants, Zig quietly walked away from the group. Later, he tweeted "Lesson learned. Shopping with (them) is….informative. I’ll stay at the skate park next time." In Got Your Money (1), Zig is first seen talking to Maya where she reveals that he made it into WhisperHug. Tori comes up and congratulates him and they all walk into class where she states that their four-month anniversary is the next day. He says he has a great surprise planned and she claps excitedly, saying that she'll wear her new dress and he can wear anything except the khaki uniform pants. She says the reason being that the only other person that still wears them is his friend Damon because he can't afford anything else. Upon walking out of class, he spots the lost-and-found and steals a pair of jeans. He is later shown with Damon at his mother's store where he is looking for something to give to Tori. His mother gives him a bracelet that had just came in and he says that she will love it. After rehearsing Be My Someone with his band the next day, Mo brings up the times for more practices where Zig says he can't do anything that night because of his anniversary. Imogen asks what he got her and he excitedly shows the bracelet but is shot down by his bandmates and called cheap. Maya then tells him that Tori spent her allowance from the past five years for his present. After walking out of practice, he is greeted by Tori in the hallway and says he has to cancel their date due to band practice and the fact that a four-month anniversary isn't really a thing. She gets upset and walks away from him saying that they were gonna make it their thing. In another class, he tries to join a group with Tori and Maya but Tori is ignoring him and Maya says he should leave. Damon joins him and tells him about the dine-and-dash to win back Tori. He asks for Maya's help and meets her and Tori at Little Miss Steaks where he apologizes and they make up. Marisol hands them the menu and he tells Tori to get whatever she'd like. Upon receiving the bill, Zig tells Tori to meet him outside and he leaves without paying. He runs out of the street with Tori and kisses her saying his heart is racing. In Got Your Money (2), he is sitting with his guitar the day after where Tori comes behind him, happy to see him. They walk to the front of the school where Maya meets them and says that Marisol got WhisperHug to perform at the dance. They are all excited when the girls leave for class and Marisol approaches Zig. She says that he owes him $50 for the $35 bill and the fact that she deserves a generous tip for the stunt he pulled. He says he doesn't have the money on him and she threatens him by saying if she doesn't get the money in 24 hours, she will tell Tori what he did and send Mo to collect. Later that day, he is walking with Tori in the main hall of the school where she points out the booth for tickets for the dance. They discover that nobody is covering the booth and that the ticket money is still there. Tori says she'll meet him later as the bell rings and Zig takes the money and hides it in his binder. Later on, Zig walks into one of the hallways to see lockers being searched. Maya and Tori tell him that somebody stole the dance money and he begins to get nervous. Officer Turner tells him to open his locker and it is searched. He then tells Zig to open his guitar case and he is clean there too. Zig nervously speeds into the band room and takes out the money pouch where Tori and Maya walk in. He gives Maya the money and she says she won't say anything but Tori is very upset. She asks why he would do it and says it's like she doesn't even know him to which he agrees and walks out. While working at his mother's store, his mom asks if he should be preparing for his dance. He tells her what he did, saying everybody hates him, especially Tori. She gives him the money to pay back Marisol and tells him to go to the dance because people are counting on him. He joins his bandmates and hands Marisol her money and before they go to perform, Tori pulls him back asking why he gave her the money and he reveals that he dined-and-dashed. He tells her that he is poor and he didn't want to lose her for not being able to give her nice things. He performs Be My Someone with the band and gets a loud applause, while Tori walks to the front of the crowd and stares at him. At the end of the night, he helps his mom with the trash and tells her to go inside the store and watch TV. Damon approaches and Zig says he doesn't want company. Damon then shows that Tori followed him. The two rekindle their relationship and Zig brings Tori inside to meet his mother. In Rusty Cage (1), Zig is seen with Tori, Tristan, Cam and Maya at karaoke night. He is seen singing on stage when Cam arrives and playing air guitar with Tori and Tristan as Cam and Maya sang their duet. In Sabotage (1), he joins Tori, Tristan and Dave at the mall for the West Drive talent contest, but apparently doesn't participate as he isn't wearing a contestant number. When Dave wins the contest, he joins them for pizza. In Scream (1), he is seen wandering around backstage when Tori and Tristan are talking about how his first kiss will be with Dave. While Tori tells him not to worry, Zig tells him he should find one and she implies for him to leave. In Scream (2), he is seen searching for Tristan with Maya and Tori. He keeps calling him while the others search for him. He goes with the girls to tell Owen and helps convince Tristan to go perform. In Building a Mystery (1), Zig is seen heading to band practice when Becky asks him if Adam is able to hang out with her. He then tells her that they need to practice for Battle the Bands. In Doll Parts (1), Zig finds Maya crying her eyes out and comforts her, which leads to the decision to join the beauty pageant that Tori is entering. While there, Maya is disappointed that Cam is not there and is afraid she did this for nothing. When she is called on stage, she falls on her face, but laughs it off. After her performance, she and Zig have a chat and Maya is surprised to find she has made it to the second round. In Doll Parts (2), Zig agrees, to perform with Maya, at the pageant. Later at the pageant, Zig performs with Maya, and they share a kiss backstage, which he doesn't seem to mind. The next day, while Tori and Maya are back on good terms, Zig expresses his jealousy of her and Cam's relationship, saying they both "felt it" the other night when they kissed. In Tonight, Tonight, ''' Zig is walking along studying chemicals when Maya catches up to him and tells him to stop whatever he is doing. Zig points out that only Maya agreed to acting normal, and their kiss is hard to forget. He then agrees to be nice to Tori. Later at the Matlin house, Zig walks in with a bag, only expecting Maya, and has to follow her deception saying she told him Tori would be there. Zig sits next to Tori. He gives Cam the bag and he opens it, revealing 2 bags of Ketchup chips. Cam asks him why he only brought 2, as his parents own the convenience store and Zig says he had a "brain fart" and that he should have brought more. Zig then suggests they add harmonies to the Superman song, and goes to get drinks with Maya. Zig tells Maya that he was unaware of Cam and Tori's premature presence at her house. He tells her that he is going to break up with Tori after exams and the Battle of the Bands. Zig reminds her that she wanted him to be nice to Tori, and it is not nice to make her think he still likes her. Zig enters the door at rehearsal and complains that he had a hard time on his exams due to slope-related questions (which is exactly the only thing he had not studied), He is also in awe at Battle Of The Bands when the Superman song is tolen. Back in the their tent, Maya is packing her instruments when Zig jokingly suggests that they go out onstage and play regardless of the debarment. Zig reminds her that he is still dumping Tori afterwards. When he puts his hand on Maya’s, she becomes frustrated and tells him that she loves Cam and that they will not happen. Zig asks her if she loves Cam so much why they kissed. Suddenly, someone clears their throat from behind, and when they turn to see who it is, they know they are in trouble. It is Tori, who had brought them drinks to cheer them up for being disqualified, but her initial stammering tells them that she heard every word of their conversation. Zig can only remain silent in shame, ending their relationship. Zig agrees to cover bass, and performs “Up In Our Cloud”. In Bitter Sweet Symphony (1), ' Zig greets Maya after noticing they're on the same spirit week team, causing Campbell to become jealous. Tristan walks past the two and makes a rude remark how the two were placed on the same team. Later on in the gymnasium, the green and red spirit teams were preparing for their first spirit week competition, a game of floor hockey. Zig helps Maya with her headband as Campbell looks on angrily. When the game began, Cam attacked Zig by elbowing in the face and continued to fight him until Mr. Simpson and Dallas pulled him off. In Mr. Simpson's office, Zig angrily states that Cam attacked him and said that Maya could vouch for him. After Maya admits that Cam attacked Zig, he left to get ice for his black eye. The next day, Zig was walking up the steps where Cam was waiting for Maya with his lunch. Cam begins to gloat about how Maya forgave him. Angrily, Zig calls Cam a psycho and tells him to get out of Maya's life now and forever. In 'Bitter Sweet Symphony (2), He is seen leaning against the lockers looking very upset after finding out that Cam committed suicide. Zig feels guilty for what he said to Cam and tells Maya that he is the reason Cam killed himself, saying "I told Cam to get out of your life, so he did - its all my fault". Maya tells Zig that that is ridiculous, and starts to laugh. Zig angrily asks her how she is laughing. He then watches her speech at the vigil. In '''Ray of Light (2) , he is seen in the yearbook video. In Karma Police (1), Zig is in French class sitting next to Damon, and they are presenting oral project assigned by Madame Jean-Aux. It's Tori's turn to present and she says that if she could go back in time, she'd go back to before Cam committed suicide. This annoyed Zig so he expresses it, and calls Tori a drama queen, despite Tristan's retorts. Madame tells him that if he's so eager to speak he should present next. Zig said he'd go back to before the assignment existed, and walks out. Damon approaches Zig, tells him it's time for French, but Zig doesn't want to go; he suggests they both skip it. Zig then gets angry and says that he doesn't want to be in that class with "stupid Tori" and "stupid Tristan" talking about "stupid Cam", and then he grabs a trash barrel and dumps it over Madame's car, and he's contemplating about doing more, but Damon convinces him otherwise. Madame then comes out and gives them both detention. Zig and Damon finish cleaning up trash for Madame when she dismisses them, but requests to talk to Zig first. Zig tells her that he doesn't want to present his oral, and expresses his guilt over what he said to Cam. Madame reassures him it wasn't his fault, and suggests that he help set up an event for French with her. Zig decides he'll help her, and brings along Damon to help as well. Madame announces that her musical act cancelled on them, and Damon tells Zig that he should volunteer to cover for them, Zig agrees, he thinks that he owes it to her. In Karma Police (2), 'Zig tries to make it up to Madame Jean-Aux by singing a French song, dedicated to her, not knowing its about two lovers. Zig gets laughed off the stage and runs into the hallway, where he is confronted by Madame. She tells him what the song is about and Zig apologizes then leaves. Damon catches him outside where he is crying. Zig tells him he could have ruined Madame's life, by that one mistake. He says he tried to steal Cam's girlfriend while he was with Tori. "Maya begged me to stop, but of course I didn't listen. He says he keeps hurting the ones he cares about. The next day, he asks Madame if he could present his time travel assignment. She says yes. At first, Zig says he would go back in time to before he dumps trash on Madame's car, but he then says he would go back in time to before he came between his friends. He then apologizes to everyone who he has hurt. Later Zig is seen at lunch and he walks over and talks to Maya, Tori and Tristan after class and apologizes again. Before walking away, Maya invites Zig and Damon to be extras in Eli's zombie movie. In 'Zombie (1), 'Zig is an extra in Eli's zombie movie along with Maya. He and Maya talk and he tells her he's glad to see her happy. Zig is then asked by Maya out on a date, but he asks her about Cam. He then watches as Maya flirts with Harry. He later texts Maya asking to talk, while she is at the party. Zig shows up at the party after Maya sends him a pic of her, Harry and Talia. Zig aproaches Tristan asking about Maya. Zig offers to walk Maya home, after finding out she's been drinking. He is worried about her, and leaves after Maya insults him. He sends her a message on facerange later asking if she is okay. In 'Zombie (2), Zig notices Maya outside by the parking lot and doesn't want to fight with her.Zig is upset about how Maya has been acting and the video of her and Harry. Zig asks why she would even want to be with him, and tells her this isn't her. Maya tells him she's tired of people telling her who's she supposed to be, and tells him about her audition. Zig tells her to tell them about Cam. Zig tries to stop Maya as she storms away and throws her cello in the dumpster. Zig is later outside with Maya as she reads her letter to the orchestra. She tells him that worst part was treating him like garbage. Zig tells her that he got her Cello out the dumpster and told Ms.Oh to keep it in the music room until Maya comes to her senses. He tells Maya saying no to her was the hardest thing ever since he really likes her, but he wants a relationship when she wants one too. He promises to wait for Maya and walks away smiling. Trivia *His Twitter *He is an Aquarius, according to his facerange profile. *He and Tori were in a relationship for about a month before coming to Degrassi. They got back together with the help of Maya, who had a crush on him. *He is the 4th Power Squad Mascot, the first was J.T. Yorke, the second being Danny Van Zandt and Derek Haig, and third being Tori Santamaria. *He is of Russian descent. **This is proven in Got Your Money, as Zig's mother portrays a Russian accent. *His family owns a convenience store. *Adam tweeted that his nickname is Zig Zee (presumably based on Jay-Z but spelled out by Adam so it wouldn't be pronounced "zed".) *Zig is the guitarist in the band WhisperHug. *He is the last person shown to have interacted with Campbell Saunders before his death. *His first line, "If you could save a life, would you?" referrs to the movie To Save A Life, which is about a friend losing his best friend to suicide because they became enemies and he wasn't there for him. **This is ironic, or possibly intended, because Zig was friends with Campbell but the two became enemies over Maya and Cam ended his life. **This is also a possible foreshadowing line because he asks Maya if she would save a life if she could, but neither of them saved Cam. *He and Damon have been best friends since before junior high, while he knew Tori and Tristan since junior high, and met Maya in high school. *In Eli's zombie movie, Zig was wearing Riley's old football jersey. It is unclear whether Zig was portraying a Zombie Riley or it was just a coincidence. *Zig is eighth of the eight to intentionally harm someone's car: He dumped garbage on Madame Jean-Aux's car. The other seven are: **Spinner and Jimmy, who egged Ms. Kwan's car. **Paige, who crashed Spinner's car into Dean's car. **Rick Murray, who sprayed painted an "X" on Spinner's and Jay's car windows. **K.C., who keyed Coach Armstrong's car. **Mark "Fitz" Fitzgerald, who broke a hood ornament off of Eli's hearse. **Katie egged Bianca's car and broke off the right side review mirror. Quotes *(To Maya): "If you could save a life, would you?" (first line) *(To Adam about LGBT): "What does the "T" stand for, anyway?" *"That felt good!" *(To Tori): "You love me? That's really cool. Me too." *(To Mrs. Novak): "I hate being poor!" *(To Cam) "You're a psycho." *(To Cam about Maya) "If you even cared about her at all, you'd get out of her life. Forever." *(To Damon) "I just can't spend another minute in that class listening to stupid Tori, and stupid Tristan talk about stupid Cam. It's so annoying!" *(To Madame) "If I could go back in time... I'd go back to before this stupid assignment ever existed." *(To Madame Jean-Aux): "I told Cam to go away...and he did." *(To Damon) "I hurt people that i care about" *(To Class) "I wouldn't have come between my friends." *(To Class) "I wouldn't have hurt Tori, because she dosen't deserve that." *(To Class) "I know that i don't deserve forgiveness. But i just wanted you guys to know I'm sorry." *(To Maya) "This isn't you." *(To Maya) "You're a mean drunk." * Maya : "Ew, don't touch me with your stub!" Zig: "Mr. Stumpy is very sensitive, you know that." *(To Maya ) "Maya, saying no to you was the hardest thing because.. I really like you. I only want us when its what you want to." Maya: "And I don't know when that will be." Zig: "I know.. So I'll wait." Relationships *Tori Santamaria **First Relationship: ***Start Up: Approximately a month before Underneath It All '(1133) ***Break Up: Before 'Underneath It All (1133) ****Reason: Zig didn't want to start high school with a girlfriend. **Second Relationship: ***Start Up: Underneath It All (1133) ***Break Up: Got Your Money (2) (1206) ****Reason: Zig stole money from the Student Council. **Third Relationship: ***Start Up: Got Your Money (2) (1206) ***Broke Up: Tonight, Tonight (1228) ****Reason: Tori found out that Zig kissed Maya, and was planning on breaking up with her for Maya. Love Triangles *Maya Matlin and Tori Santamaria **Start: Underneath It All (1132) **End: Tonight, Tonight (1228) ***Reason: Tori walked in on Zig and Maya talking about their kiss, so she cut them both out of her life in the moment. *Maya Matlin and Cam Saunders **Start: Doll Parts (2) '''(1223) **End: Bitter Sweet Symphony (1)' (1231) ***Reason: Cam broke up with Maya and then committed suicide in the Degrassi greenhouse. *Maya Matlin and Harry **Start: 'Zombie (1)' (1237) **End: 'Zombie (2)' (1238) ***Reason: Maya realized she wasn't ready for a relationship with ''any new boy until she was finished coping with Cam's suicide. Category:Degrassi Characters Category:Season 11 Category:Season 12 Category:Degrassi Category:Degrassi Teens Category:Male Characters Category:Musician Category:Mascot Category:Main Characters Category:Season 13 Category:Sophomores